Persevering collaboration brings cyber research centre to University of Oulu

A research centre for cyber security is to be established at the University of Oulu as a Finnish-American collaborative effort. Setting up the centre at the University of Oulu is the result of persevering international cooperation that has been carried out in Oulu especially in research into data security and wireless data communications.

The Cyber Security and Software Engineering Research Site is to be part of the US Security and Software Engineering Research Center, which has conducted research into the security of software and systems in the United States in cooperation with 13 universities and more than 20 industrial and governmental partners since 2010.

Professor Juha Röning, a leading researcher into cyber security at the University of Oulu, says that data security work conducted in Oulu has long been recognised in the United States, and it is seen as a model as the country develops its own cyber security research.

Data security research got a boost at the University of Oulu more than a decade ago when a master's degree in data security was launched in connection with information processing science. The training and research involved the basics of encryption, the theory of coding, cryptography, and other mathematical foundations of data security.

Cyber attacks have become much more frequent around the world. Röning's research targets the data security of programming, and he is convinced that it is possible to operate in confidence on line also in the world of business, not to mention the critical infrastructure of society, such as energy utilities or government ministries.

Röning and his research group have established wide-ranging trust within industry and in public organisations responsible for the security of society, such as cooperation that takes place with the National Emergency Supply Agency. Consequently, it was easy to place the new centre in Oulu. The research centre for cyber security will be open to all Finnish universities and research institutes. The activities are being funded by Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, as well as universities and companies.

The centre will bring six new jobs to Oulu. The first task is to prepare proposals for research and cooperation. Of these the most successful proposals will be selected in the United States in November for further work.

Further information: Professor and director responsible for the research group Juha Röning, juha.roning(a)oulu.fi